


It Goes On

by fathomlessspite



Series: A Good Old Normal, Human Life [4]
Category: Doctor Who, Torchwood
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-02-25
Updated: 2012-03-04
Packaged: 2017-10-31 17:48:50
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 8,315
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/346777
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/fathomlessspite/pseuds/fathomlessspite
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The Doctor has found John and the Master and he and Jack want some answers.  Can they work together to save 'Pete's universe' and their own?</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> WARNING: potential non-con (of a time lord-y mind nature) in later part
> 
> A/N: Set in 'Pete's universe' where The Doctor left Rose and Ten2 (John Smith) at the end of Journey's End, this follows on from A Good Old Normal, Human Life, Data Compression & Ianto's Dreams. Also as usual the fic is filled with picture, because they are fun!  
> Title taken from Robert Frost quote; "In three words I can sum up everything I've learned about life. It goes on."

***

PART 1

***

 

 

 

“Oh that isn’t good,” John murmured just loud enough for the Master to hear over the noise of the engines of the Doctor’s Tardis.  
  
“No, really?” the Master muttered snide, his hand still gripped John’s wrist tight enough that it would likely bruise.  
  
“So Jack and Martha weren’t the reason-”  
  
“I don’t even know that _thing_ and his little friend, so no,” the Master glanced over at Jack who had lowered his gun and shifted his attention to the materialising Tardis.  
  
“We should-” John moved toward the Master’s Tardis, pulling the Master with him.  
  
“Wait!” Jack called sharply; when John turned he saw Jack had raised his gun at them.  
  
“You won’t shoot us Jack.”  
  
“I’ll shoot _him._ ”  
  
John was in front of Jack before he even realised that he’d moved; the Master’s grip on his wrist was now even more biting.  “Don’t touch him.”  
  
“Hey,” Jack lowered the gun which due to John’s swift interception had been pointed directly at John’s head.  “Okay.”  
  
“That was sweet, you’re like a yappy little guard dog,” the Master said.  “But we should-” the final creak of the Tardis engines as they shut down made him pause “-go now.”  
  
Jack barely moved to protest before the Master had dragged John into his Tardis and shut the door behind them.  He ran to the central console and after a few moments there was a video feed from several different angles of Donna’s street up on the monitors.  
  
John came up to stand beside the Master and bumped his shoulder with his own, “We got sound?

***

The Doctor opened the Tardis door a crack and looked outside.  “Rather crowded out there,” he muttered.  
  
“What was that?” Amy asked loudly and directly in his ear.  
  
“Do you have to-?” he pushed her back gently by the shoulders, “Do you have to be so close?  And _loud_?  Do you have to be so _loud_?”  
  
“Yes, and yes,” she replied with a grin.  
  
“What’s out there then?” Rory asked.  He stepped up close beside Amy and took her hand in his, tugging her closer toward him and away from the Doctor.  
  
“Chiswick,” he said and took another peek out of the door, closing it quickly when Amy leaned over to take a look.  
  
“Chiswick?”  Rory asked.  “Why are we in Chiswick?”  
  
“Maybe it’s Chiswick in the future?” Amy asked.  
  
“Oh, right right,” Rory nodded; they both looked expectantly at the Doctor.  
  
“Chiswick of the present I’m afraid,” he answered, eyes darting toward the door and back.  “So,” he clapped his hands together, “You two stay here, and I’ll be back in a bit.”  
  
“Wait, what?” Amy asked. “Why?”  
  
“Bit of business to take care of won’t be long,” he replied and darted out of the door before they could reply.  He used the sonic screwdriver to lock it behind him and ignored the loud protests of the Ponds on the other side of the door.  
  
When he looked up there were several pairs of eyes staring at him.  
  
“Helloo,” he waved in greeting.  
  
“Huh,” Jack said contemplatively.  
  
“Well it’s not any of you making my brain itch, so where are they?” he frowned.  
  
“Doctor?” Martha asked, wide-eyed, jaw-dropped and everything.  
  
“Well, yes,” he frowned.  “I thought,” he gestured behind him, “with the-“ he waved his arm at the Tardis.  “Pretty obvious, right?”  
  
“Right,” Jack said, he was grinning now.  That was slightly worrying, but there were more important things to be concerned with at the moment.  
  
“Where-?”  
  
“The phone box,” Jack said and walked over to said box.  
  
“You’re kidding,” the Doctor objected as he walked up next to Jack.  
  
“No, they’re in there,” Jack said as the Doctor stepped up and took a deep breath, nose to the glass.  
  
“Is he sniffing it?” Donna asked behind him.  
  
“Donna!” he turned round sharply.  “You remember?  You’re mind should be burning!”  
  
“They fixed her didn’t they,” Wilf said.  
  
“They?” he asked and turned back to the phone box to take another deep breath.  “Smells like me, the last me that is, and Donna.  And the Master, but not quite.  Like before, when he was-” young.  Before the drums.  
  
He span round again, “Fixed how?”  
  
“I don’t really know, a chameleon thingy they said,” Wilf answered.  
  
“Chameleon arch?” Martha asked.  
  
“They would have had to adapt it, it’d take ages to figure out how to-”  
  
“That Master bloke did it in a day,” Wilf interrupted the Doctor.  
  
“Oh.  Oh well that’s.  Huh.  I might’ve overestimated I guess.  But then he always was the clever one,” he frowned at the other Tardis for a moment.  
  
“You could knock?” Jack raised an eyebrow at the Doctor and quirked his lips.  
  
“I could,” the Doctor drawled in response.  “Seems a bit undignified though,” he said.  
  
“Undignified?  You were just sniffing their phone box!” Donna said, incredulous.  
  
“True, true,” the Doctor replied.  He raised his hand to knock but before it could meet the door of the phone box the engines whirred into life.  “Oh no no no.  No you don’t!”  
  
He ran over to his Tardis and yanked the door open, Rory and Amy tumbled out in an ungainly heap at his feet.  
  
“Move!” he snapped and began to climb over them.  Rory yelped as the Doctor used his back as a stepping stone.  
  
The Doctor ran over to the centre console and began trying to lock onto the other Tardis’ flight path.  After a few seconds the engines started up and they were being dragged through the vortex in the wake of the other Tardis leaving Chiswick behind them.  
  
Belatedly, he thought to look up and make sure Amy and Rory were inside the Tardis door only to come face to face with Jack Harkness.  
  
“Oh for-” he rolled his eyes.  “Do not talk to them,” he waved a hand at Rory and Amy.  “Ponds, do not talk to him.”  
  
“I think I’m insulted,” Jack pouted and walked slowly towards the Doctor, his gaze swept the Tardis as he did so.  “Love what you’ve done with the place.”  
  
“Thank you.”  
  
“Love what you’ve done with the face too,” he grinned and waggled his eyebrows ridiculously.  
  
“Stop it,” the Doctor replied.  Jack’s grin widened.

 

 

 

“And who are you’re _lovely_ companions?” Jack turned round and smiled at the other two Tardis occupants.  
  
“Seriously, stop it,” the Doctor darted round Jack who was now lounging against the console.  
  
“Amy,” Amy volunteered with a wave and a smile.  
  
“Rory,” Rory said from beside her as he eyed Jack warily.  
  
“Captain Jack Harkness, at your service,” he said with a little bow.  
  
“You’re behind is in my way Jack,” the Doctor grumbled from beside Jack  
  
“By all means feel free to move it out of the way,” Jack replied turning to face the Doctor so they were practically nose-to-nose.  
  
The Doctor rolled his eyes and grinned as he pulled Jack into a quick one armed hug and placed a smacking kiss to his temple.  “It’s good to see you Jack,” he said by way of explanation.  
  
Jack looked stunned for a moment as the Doctor pulled back and hip-checked him out of the way, before he smiled warmly.  There were a few moments of silence, Jack put his hands in his pockets and rocked on his feet for a moment, “So, where are we going?”  
  
“I’ve locked us on to the other Tardis, it’s effectively pulling us through the vortex,” the Doctor replied.  
  
“So we’ll find out when we get there?”  
  
“Exactly,” the Doctor replied and they shared an excited grin.  
  
Out of the corner of his eye the Doctor saw Amy roll her eyes.  “Boys,” she muttered

***

“They’re following us,” the Master said through gritted teeth.  
  
John sighed, “We could just stay in here.”  He crossed his arms and slumped against the computer console.  The Master raised an incredulous eyebrow at him.  
  
“And let two universes collapse around us?”  He stepped in front of John and kicked his legs apart slightly so he could step in between them.  “I suppose we could think of something to occupy the time,” he said lowly and leaned forward, forehead pressed against John’s temple.  
  
The Master grinned into John’s neck when he felt John’s hands slide round his waist and grip tightly at his back.  John groaned as the Master began to mouth along his jaw and pulled the Master fully against him.  The Master raised one hand to John’s temple and rested his forehead against John’s; he used his other hand to pull John’s hips in line with his and closed his eyes.  
  
John’s mind was a tumble of whirling thoughts -the Doctor-Jack Harkness?-the end of the universe- but underneath it all was a thrum of _MasterMasterMaster_ which had him gasping against the Master’s mouth, hips stuttering in the Master’s grip.  
  
“Hmm-no, wait-” John murmured in between broken kisses.  
  
 _Shush_.  The Master combed the tips of his fingers gently through the hair at John’s temple in counterpoint to the harsh grip he had on John with his other hand.  
  
“We need to-” The Master deepened the kiss and ground his hips against John’s.  John cursed and pushed his hips up to meet the Master’s, fingers trailed underneath his shirt to the bare skin of his back.  He returned the kiss more eagerly and opened his mind further, dragged the Master in deeper-  
  
 _STOP_  
  
The Master pulled away sharply, “What?”  
  
“We need to go out there and-”  
  
“Save the world?” the Master tilted his head and regarded John with a sneer.  
  
“ _Yes_.”  
  
“Can’t we just get your Doctor on the case?  We have other things to keep us busy,” he replied and moved back in to John’s personal space.  
  
“We should talk to him I suppose.  And by we, I mean me.  You are not going near him,” John stated.  
  
“And why is that?” the Master asked, hands sliding up John’s thighs.  John placed his hands on top of the Master’s and halted their progress.  
  
“I’m not sure what he’ll do.”  
  
The Master laughed, “You can do all the talking.  I’ll just stand there quietly.  I can even hold your hand if you want.”  
  
John rolled his eyes and looked away.  The Master reached up and turned John’s head back to face him.  “Where were we?” he murmured against John’s mouth.  John laughed and let the Master kiss him without further protest.  Just for a little while, he reasoned.  
  
Until a third, slightly more female and Scottish voice said, “Oh my god!”


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warnings: potential non-con (of a time lord-y mind nature) in this part

***

PART 2

***

 

“Amy?  What is it?” Rory asked, he stepped toward where she stood lit by a shaft of light coming from the ceiling of the Tardis.  “What’s going on?” Rory turned toward the Doctor.  
   
“Nothing’s going on Rory.  It’s just a holographic communication device thingy.  I’ve hooked it up to the internal sensors of the other Tardis so Amy can see and hear what’s going on in there,” the Doctor explained.  
   
“They’ve landed,” Jack reported from where he was studying one of the Tardis’ monitors.  The engines rumbled to a slow halt a few seconds later.  “And now so have we.”  
   
When the Doctor turned back round to face Amy she had taken a step back out of the holographic sensor and the light had switched off.  She was smirking at him.  
   
“What happened?”  
   
“Oh nothing, they were...busy.” She was still smirking.  
   
“What’s with this look, this look all over your face?”  
   
“So that guy, that other you.  How close of a copy is he?”  
   
“He’s not a copy.  He’s a mixture of the Doctor and Donna’s DNA through a biological meta-” Jack explained.  
   
“Okay,” she held up her hand.  “Thanks.  So this Donna, is she particularly attracted to the other one?”  
   
The Doctor having turned away from her and walked to the console to check their location paused and looked at her.  “To the Master?  Not that I know of and certainly not at a biological level.”  
   
Beside him Jack leant against the console and crossed his arms.  “What were they doing?” he asked with a suspicious look and a sideways glance at the Doctor.  
  
“I’m sure we’ll find out what they’re up to soon enough,” the Doctor clapped his hands together and headed for the door.  
   
Amy caught him by the arm and linked hers through his.  As he opened the Tardis door she leant in and asked, “Is this why you reacted the way you did when I kissed you?  Are you a horribly promiscuous closeted crazy man in a box?” she glanced over at Jack as she finished speaking.  
   
“No.  You were already committed to Mr Pond over there weren’t you?  Credit me with a bit of honour and common decency  
Amelia,” he huffed.  He removed her hand from his arm and hooked it through Rory’s before he walked out of the door.  
  
“Hang on, you’ve not even told us where we are yet!” she shouted after him.  
   
Jack ducked in front of her before she could get to the door.  “We’re in Cardiff,”   he told them.  “And he’s really not horribly promiscuous, not in any reality outside of my head that is,” he sighed wistfully and darted out of the door after the Doctor.  
   
“Cardiff?” Rory asked.  “From Chiswick to Cardiff.  If only I’d known travelling in time and space was this exciting, I’d have started much sooner.”  
   
Amy rolled her eyes. “Come on,” she said and dragged him out of the Tardis after Jack and the Doctor.

 

***

  
“How long are we going to sit here?” The Master asked with a pout.  
   
“They’ll find us soon,” John responded eyes fixed on the window of the chip shop.  He flicked a glance back toward the Master for a moment.  “And I’m sure if you needed to you could eat a _third_ portion of chips,” he said pointedly.  
   
“Well if that’s what you need me to do, I suppose I’ll have to,” he sighed dramatically and rested his chin in his hands.  
   
A few moments of silence were broken by John as he jolted back round to face the Master and glared accusingly at him, pulling half a cold chip out of his hair.  
   
The Master looked at him with a smile full of exaggerated innocence and shrugged.  “Entertain me whilst we wait,” he instructed.  
   
“How?” John asked as he fixed his gaze back on the window.  The Master kicked him under the table.  
   
“I’m sure you can think of something, you were most entertaining an hour or so ago,” he added, with a leer which John missed completely as he was still pointedly not looking at the Master.  
   
“I’d rather not be arrested for public indecency if it’s all the same to you.”  
   
“Spoilsport,” the Master replied and flicked another chip at John.  
   
John rolled his eyes and once again turned round to face the Master.  “Conversation, then?”  
   
“The art of conversation is dead, so I here,” the Master replied.  He reached across and wrapped his fingers gently round John’s wrist.  John felt a tickle of awareness across the back of his mind before he snatched his wrist back.  “What?” the Master asked.  
   
John glanced away and shifted in his chair.  The Master reached over again in the same way as before but John’s mind remained blessedly his own.  
   
“What?”  
   
“It’s just, I’m only part Time Lord,” he began.  
   
“So?”  
   
“So I’m part human, and all the telepathic contact has left me with a bit of a ... headache,” he finished and started to retrieve his hand but the Master held on.  
   
He looked at John contemplatively for a few moments.  “All right then, let me know when you’re feeling better,” he paused.  “Or if there’s anything I can do to make you feel better,” he added and with another leer.  
   
John rolled his eyes but couldn’t help the smile that crept across his face.  
   
The Doctor and entourage walked into the chip shop just as the Master leant across and kissed John all over that ill suppressed grin.

 

***

   
“Do you have to do that in front of Pond?  She’s pigeon holing me into limited definitions of human sexual orientation because I wasn’t all that responsive when she kissed me and you _are not helping_ ,” the Doctor complained when he stopped at the Master’s and John’s table.  
   
The Master leant back in his chair so he could glance around the Doctor and look at Amy, “You did always have a thing for redheads.”  
   
“And who started that?” the Doctor responded with a pointed look at the Master.  
   
John grinned, “Ginger wasn’t his best look really.”  
   
“Also I’m assuming you didn’t respond to her advance because of her wife here,” he slanted a glance at Rory.  “Gallant and noble as you like to think you are.”  
   
“Hey,” Rory objected.  
   
“Ponds,” the Doctor turned round sharply to address them.  “Why don’t you get yourselves some chips and have a wander?”  
   
“Why?” Amy asked.  
   
“Cardiff, lovely place for a wander,” the Doctor shrugged.  
   
“But-”  
   
“We’ll fill you later,” Jack reassured.  
   
“You’d better,” she huffed in reply and dragged Rory out of the shop by the arm.  
   
“She didn’t get any chips,” the Doctor observed.  
   
“Her loss,” the Master responded as he signalled for another portion.

 

***

   
An hour, four portions of chips and a stack of scribbled on napkins later found the Master with his head on his arms and John patiently trying to convince Jack that yes they were _both_ trying to save the universe.

 

  
“But _him_?”  
   
“He’s different, he’s not the same man you knew,” John reiterated.  
   
“Okay let’s get something straight here.  I am that man.  Minus some insanity inducing drums in my brain and the euphoria which I’m sure came upon hearing of the destruction of my race, I am very much the man the dear Captain knew,” the Master argued into the crook of his elbow.  
   
“The drums though, they made you do some pretty awful things here,” the Doctor intervened.  
   
“I know all about those things, I’ve seen the inside of John’s head.  I have to say I was pretty impressed with the plan itself, the execution was a little off but...”  
   
“Master,” John protested.  
   
“And don’t think when I heard about you’re little immortality problem I didn’t think about finding out the limits of your condition in a manner similar to that of my counterpart.”  
   
“You’re not helping!”  
   
“I don’t want to help,” the Master snapped and sat up to glare at John.  “I want to go and get on with this,” he slammed a hand down on the table where the notes from their discussion sat.  “Save the universe and then we can-”  
   
“What?  Then you can what?” the Doctor asked.  “Because thats the question really.  Sure you can run around and save the universe, but what are you going to do when that’s done?”  
   
The Master sat back in his chair and levelled a calm look at the Doctor, “We’ve not decided yet."  
   
The Doctor glanced at John and back at the Master.  “Well that’s not good enough is it?”  
   
“You seem to be under the misapprehension that just because you’ve _killed_ all the other time lords in this universe that you are somehow in charge here-”  
   
“This universe.  _My_ universe.  I am in charge here!”  
   
The Master let out a low growl but instead of responding he got up and stalked out of the shop.  
   
“Shouldn’t you go after him?” Jack asked in the ensuing silence.  
   
“I will,” John agreed.  “Don’t go anywhere okay?”  
   
“Why?” the Doctor asked.  
   
“You want to help right?  I’ve been thinking about how you can.  Let me go and...” he trailed off.  “I’ll come find you in a bit.”  
   
“Well that was interesting,” Jack said with a sideways glance at the Doctor as the door clattered shut after John.  
   
“Hmmn.”  
   
“Do you really think he’s going to get up to something?” Jack asked, curious.  
   
“Maybe, maybe not.  But can we take the risk?

 

***

 

John found the Master slumped against his Tardis with hands stuffed in his pockets; his foot tapped quickly against the concrete.  
   
John stopped in front of him, just close enough to here the Master say through gritted teeth, “I need to kill something.”  
   
“Or?” he asked.  
   
The Master growled and moved too quickly for John to respond; he grabbed both of John’s wrists in a bruising grip.  He looked at John for a moment, John just looked steadily back silently acquiesing to whatever the Master wanted.  
   
This was what he’d agreed to be here for afterall, to keep the Master in check.  To help him when he was feeling out of control.  An outlet for his frustrations, so to speak.  
   
The Master hauled him forward sharply and pulled him into a kiss every bit as bruising as the iron grip he had on John’s wrists.  John felt a tingle of awareness at the edges of his mind just as the Master bit down so harshly on his lip that he drew blood.  Seconds later he pulled back and spat on the floor, his lip curled with disgust.  
   
John looked away, the copper taste of his blood filled his mouth.  His human blood.  
   
The Master released one of his hands, pulled the Tardis door open and dragged them inside.  Once it was shut and locked he pushed John up against it and leaned in close.  The tingle of awareness became sharp and painful as the Master’s thoughts buffetted his own.  
   
“If I’m going to have to stomach the taste of you filthy human mouth I’m going to have to try and connect with the tiny sliver of Time Lord that you possess first,” he explained calmly as he pushed again John’s mind with his own.  
   
John didn’t answer; it felt like someone was moving over his thoughts with sandpaper, the rough edges of the Master’s mind made John’s own feel raw.  
   
“Okay?” the Master asked politely, but John didn’t hear him.  He knew what was coming regardless and tried to brace himself for it; could feel the Master preparing to rip though his mind to find what he wanted.  
   
Nonetheless he tried to open his mouth to respond, but he couldn’t move, couldn’t speak.  The Master laughed, “Let’s begin then shall we?”  
   
Inside their minds John screamed

 

***

 

 

Outside of the chip shop, having picked up the rather large bill John and the Master had clocked up, Jack and the Doctor waited for Rory and Amy to return.  
   
“So you’re travelling with a married couple now then?” Jack asked.  
   
The Doctor rolled his eyes at Jack’s tone.  “Yes, yes I am.”  
   
“Must be a little odd, not having your companions swooning over you,” Jack responded.  
   
“Who says they aren’t?” the Doctor asked.  “Swooning all over the place they are.  Regularly.”  
   
“Sounds like fun,” Jack shot him a sideways look.  The Doctor huffed.  “Talking of, here they come now.  They look pretty steady on their feet, already had their daily dose of swooning have they?”  
   
“Oh shut up,” the Doctor responded and gave Jack a little shove with his elbow.  Jack grinned and turned back to the Doctor expecting him to be grinning back but a frown marred his face.  He raised a hand to his temple and grunted in pain.  
   
“You okay?” Jack asked.  
   
“Yeah, no, I’m, I’m fine,” he swayed on his feet and Jack grabbed his arm to steady him.  “Maybe I should sit down?” he said weakly.  
   
“Yeah come on,” Jack began to lead him to a bench a few metres away.  Out of the corner of his eyes he saw Amy and Rory jogging toward them.

 

  
“Ah!” the Doctor’s knees went out from under him before they reached the bench; Jack went down with him in surprise.  “Someone’s screaming, who-?” he cut himself off with a groan of pain.  
   
“No-one’s screaming, I can’t hear anything,” Jack answered  He tilted the Doctor’s chin up toward him, his eyes were wide and pupils dilated he looked at Jack.  
   
“I can hear him, he’s screaming,” he insisted.  
   
“What’s wrong?  What’s happening?” Amy asked as she dropped down beside them, Rory stood hesitantly at her side.  
   
“I’m not sure,” Jack answered as the Doctor bent forward and groaned, head in his hands.  Jack’s fingers moved to thread through his hair offering comfort as the Doctor muttered to himself.  
   
“Screaming, screaming, I’m screaming?  He-” he stopped muttering and looked up at them sharply.  “Oh,” he blinked and brought his hand up to run through his hair.  When he encountered Jack’s hand he wrapped his fingers round it.  “I need to get to the Tardis.”  
   
“Why, what’s going on?” Jack asked pulling their clasped hands down between them.  If it wasn’t for his concern for the Doctor he might wonder about the hand holding, as this version of the Doctor seemed much less tactile than the last.  He hadn’t expected hand holding.  
   
“I can hear him, in here,” the Doctor tapped his temple with his free hand.  
   
“John?”  
   
“Yes, the Master was- I don’t know, I-John was screaming.  And not in a good way,” the Doctor added when Jack opened his mouth to interrupt.  
   
“Has it stopped now?” Amy asked.  
   
The Doctor blinked at her as if he had forgotten she was there, “Yes, no I can still-” he tapped his temple again.  
   
“Still hear him?”  
   
“Hmm, yes,” the Doctor nodded and leant on Jack’s shoulder.  “He-The Master- He’s apologising I think, yes he’s,” the Doctor laughed into Jack’s shoulder.  “Definitely apologising, can you get me back to the Tardis now please, Jack?”  
   
“Of course we can,” Jack said; he started to pull the Doctor to his feet.  When they were standing with one of the Doctor’s arms slung over Jack’s shoulders, the Doctor he groaned a little into Jack’s shoulder.  
   
“Quick as we can please,” he said.  
   
“Why?” Jack asked as they starting to move in the direction of the Tardis.  He was peripherally aware of Rory and Amy trotting along beside them, for all his focus was on the Doctor.  
   
“It’s about to get good,” the Doctor said quietly and directly into Jack’s ear.  Jack’s eyes widened when he comprehended the Doctor’s meaning.  
   
Jack tried to increase their speed but was somewhat hampered by the fact that the Doctor had released his grip on Jack’s shoulder to run his fingers through the short hairs at the back of Jack’s neck.  
   
“You know, I should probably stay with you until this is over, make sure you’re okay,” Jack suggested as nonchalantly as possible considering he was jogging toward the Tardis which was now in sight with the Doctor in tow.  
   
“Oh, yes,” the Doctor breathed.  “Good, sound, _brilliant_ plan.”  
   
Jack was still grinning when he shut the Tardis door on a rather put-upon looking Mr and Mrs Pond.


	3. Chapter 3

***

PART 3

***

 

John rubbed absently at the bite marks on his shoulder as he lay in the aftermath of the Master’s rather extensive and inventive apology for invading John’s mind.  
  
The initial pain had almost been worth what followed, especially with the echoes of what Jack and the Doctor had been doing skittering along his nerves alongside the Master’s touch.  
  
Almost.  
  
What the Master had done to him had been a prisonable offence amongst Time Lords, still was he supposed in the Master’s universe where the Time Lords had survived.  
  
He could hear the Master as he wandered about the Tardis from where he lay on the control room floor, barely five feet from the door. John wondered if the Master had even contemplated what the consequences of his actions might be. For John and his partially human mind, that is. There wouldn’t be any repercussions for the Master from the Time Lords whilst he was on the run and in hiding.  
  
The Doctor though he had felt what John felt; which had likely not been a good way to convince him that John could control the Master’s more violent tendencies. Perhaps the following pleasure would make him forget the initial assault on John’s mind?  
  
It was doing a good job of distracting John himself, echoes of pleasure still skittered across his mind and his body.  
  
He smiled to himself as he heard the soft footfalls of the Master approach him. A hand ran through his hair and he leant into it.  
  
“I made tea,” the Master said quietly. “Do you want some?”  
  
John hummed quietly not answering and opened his eyes to look at the Master. He looked uncharacteristically open, worried for John, and unfamiliarly guilty. John suppressed a smile; this was definitely progress of a sort. Sure he had had to go through agonising mental pain but... He sighed and closed his eyes again.  
  
“John?”  
  
He felt the Master lay down next to him. They stayed there quietly for e few moments before John fumbled for the Master’s hand next to him and laced their fingers together. The Master shifted next to him on his side and slowly inched closer until he had a leg slung over John’s, an arm round his waist.  
  
John finally opened his eyes and met the Master’s own. Despite all of the contact John couldn’t even feel the slightest hint of the Master’s thoughts; it must have required a huge amount of effort. He smiled and leant down as the Master moved closer to John, their mouths met in an almost chaste kiss.  
  
It slowly became deeper; warm and soft where earlier the kisses had been hard and biting. John could feel himself falling deeper into them, glad the Master had formed a barrier between their thoughts because he fleetingly thought that at this moment he could probably forgive the Master anything.  
  
A painful twinge in his neck forced him to pull away eventually; it set off a chain reaction of awareness through his body of all the aches and pains from their earlier activity. He felt like he had bruises on his bruises.  
  
“One of these days we’ll make it to a bed,” he grumbled.  
  
The Master grinned, “That day could be today.”  
  
John rolled his eyes, “The tea’s getting cold.”  
  
“Sod the tea.”  
  
“And we need to talk to the Doctor,” he added.  
  
The Master shifted and grumbled into John’s neck.  
  


***

  
[](http://pics.livejournal.com/fathomlessspite/pic/0006dwfb/)  
  
“You want to use both of the Tardis’ to close the rifts?” Jack asked.  
  
“No, idiot,” the Master snapped. “We want to use them to stabilise the rifts.”  
  
“Why not close them entirely?” Amy asked from where she and Rory sat on the steps leading up out of the control room.  
  
“Because there needs to be one Tardis on each side whether we stabilise or seal them, and if we sealed them that would leave one us unable to travel back across the divide,” John explained.  
  
“And? I mean that’s his reality anyway,” Jack gestured toward the Master. “And you seemed all set to live there with Rose from what the Doctor tells me.”  
  
“There are Timelords there, and we’re not exactly in their good books,” John said.  
  
“What did you do?” Rory asked.  
  
“A myriad of things,” the Master replied. “But it’s him they’ll be more worried about. Considering they killed my- the Doctor in my universe they’d think nothing of doing away with a half human copy,” the Master’s distaste was as ever clear in his tone. John crossed his arms more tightly around himself. Jack shifted slightly where he leant against the console next to John and pressed against his shoulder with his own in reassurance.  
  
“So the plan is to stabilise the rifts then, sorted,” the Doctor said.  
  
“Right,” John nodded.  
  
“Okay,” Amy and Rory agreed.  
  
“So,” the Doctor paused for a moment, “Exactly how do we do that?”  
  
The Master rolled his eyes, “I’m surrounded by idiots.”  
  


***

  
Rory and Amy had gone sight-seeing around the bay and the Doctor and the Master were busy arguing via video link from their separate Tardis’. John and Jack sat on the stone steps and looked out across the Plass.  
  
“Why did you-”  
  
“Jack, don’t.”  
  
“I just don’t get it; Rose was what you wanted right? I mean it seemed to be what he wanted.”  
  
“Yeah? Then maybe he should have stayed with her instead of abandoning us both,” John replied.  
  
“He didn’t abandon you, he wanted you both to be happy,” Jack protested.  
  
“He wanted to not have to deal with us, he didn’t want the responsibility.” When Jack looked set to protest again John added, “I should know, I’m him.”  
  
“No, you’re not. You’re part him and part Donna I guess, but you’re you. You’re not a copy,” he added.  
  
“Thanks,” John replied quietly. He looked away and blinked rapidly for a moment. Jack kicked his foot lightly and gave him a big wide toothy grin when John turned back to face him.  
  
“Look I guess I’m never going to understand it but I want you to be okay. And I’m not sure you’re going to be okay with him.”  
  
John laughed, “Me neither. But I’m a lot more okay with him than I was with Rose. I don’t have to pretend, or try so hard it’s just...” he shrugged.  
  
“All right, I guess I’m definitely not in a place to judge anyone,” he smiled self depreciatively. “But we’ll get the Doctor to do up your phone, so you can ring him or me if you need us.”  
  
“That sounds good.”  
  
“Good.”  
  
Their comfortable silence was broken after a few minutes by the ring of Jack’s phone.  
  
“Hello?...Gwen slow down what’s-....For how long?...Yes I know but she’s always woken up afterward...Cardiff. Look I’ll ask the Doctor if we can come get you, he can have a look at her and-...Yes of course I’ll hurry...Bye.”  
  
“What’s going on?”  
  
“They can’t wake Martha up.”

 

***

[](http://pics.livejournal.com/fathomlessspite/pic/0006ep5k/)  
“She’s been having these episodes,” Gwen explained to the Doctor as he hovered over Martha, currently laid out on a bed in the Tardis medibay. “The few times we managed to get her under observation when it’s happened, her vitals they just stop. And then she wakes up and she’s fine.”  
  
“What do you mean stop?”  
  
“As in the first time we thought she was dead,” Jack replied.  
  
“And when she woke up, what did she remember?”  
  
“Darkness, nothing,” Gwen said.  
  
“I don’t know,” the Doctor ran a hand through his hair. “A few seconds ago the Tardis stopped registering her entirely,” he looked up at the screen hanging above the bed.  
  
“It might have something to do with our little colliding universes problem,” John suggested from where he stood in the doorway.  
  
“How?” Jack asked.  
  
“Martha, in the other universe, Martha died. Maybe she’s seeing darkness because there’s nothing of her there. The Master has seen flashes of his self from this universe. Ianto collapsed when he entered the Master’s Tardis and he was hit with memories from here-”  
  
“Ianto?” Gwen asked, shocked.  
  
“Yes, he-”  
  
“He’s alive there?”  
  
“Yeah, he is. He was the Torchwood liaison to the Prime Minister, but we left him with Roseand Torchwood in Cardiff.”  
  
“Suzie Costello?!” Jack asked shocked.  
  
“I think so, why?”  
  
“She’s not exactly what you’d call stable,” Gwen told him.  
  
“Here maybe, she seemed okay there. And Ianto can definitely take care of himself,” he added with a smile.  
  
“What- Hang on, John who?” Jack asked.  
  
“He was a Time Agent, John Hart.”  
  
Gwen barked out a laugh, “You’re kidding. That’s just...”  
  
“At least he has Rose,” Jack said faintly.  
  
“Was he blacking out?” the Doctor asked as he continued to frown at Martha’s still form.  
  
“Erm, no he just,” John paused. “Well he sort of collapsed when he stepped inside the Master’s Tardis and after he seemed to have memories from this universe.”  
  
“How do you know they were memories from our Ianto?” Gwen asked.  
  
“Because he’d never met Jack in that universe, but he could remember him after he collapsed.”  
  
“Hmm,” the Doctor crossed his arms and looked up at John. “And you said the Master experienced something similar?”  
  
“Yeah, we- he remembered something you said to his counterpart sometime after,” he paused and glanced at the Doctor, “you left us behind. It didn’t hurt him though, I just assumed that was because he’s a Timelord and Ianto is human.”  
  
“Probably. But if the blackouts are a symptom of your counterpart’s death, like with Martha-”  
  
“-Why did Ianto get the memories and not the blackouts?” Jack finished.  
  
“Exactly, so maybe-”  
  
Martha sat up with a loud gasp. Gwen rushed to her side and grabbed her hand. “It’s all right sweetheart, you’re all right.”  
  
Once Martha had her breath back she glanced round and her eyes landed on John who still stood in the doorway. “Doctor,” she smiled.  
  
“That would be me,” the Doctor stepped into her line of sight. “Now, I need you to explain exactly what you just experienced.”  
  


***

  
“Tardis calling Torchwood Three,” the Master singsonged to the Tardis consol. “Come in Torchwood Three.” John saw the Doctor role his eyes on the monitor where he was patched in to the comms. from his own Tardis.  
  
“Good afternoon sir, it’s good to hear from you,” Ianto’s voice came through the console speakers and his image fizzled into view on the screen a moment later.  
  
“Mr Jones,” the Master nodded. “All’s well on the home front I trust?”  
  
“Not so much,” Rose stepped into view at Ianto’s shoulder.  
  
[](http://pics.livejournal.com/fathomlessspite/pic/0006fr0f/)  
  
“What’s happened?” John asked; he elbowed the Master aside lightly so he could step in front of the screen.  
  
“We’ve had more reports of people being admitted to hospitals and psychiatric wards with similar symptoms as Ianto,” Rose explained. “And Ianto has been getting worse-”  
  
“Rose,” Ianto chastised.  
  
“What? You have!” Rose glared at him. When she turned back to the screen she frowned. “Who’s that?”  
  
“That?” John tapped the Doctors face on his monitor. “That would be the Doctor, Rose.”  
  
“Oh,” she paused. “You regenerated again.”  
  
“Yeah, new face. And a new Tardis actually, well a remodel anyway-”  
  
“Doctor,” Jack interrupted. “We need to get to the point here,” he told him, although his eyes frequently wandered back to the screen where Ianto was watching him closely.  
  
“Just to add we’ve also had several reports of an increased number of hospital admissions for blackouts.” Ianto glanced away from the screen for a moment. “Some of the cases reported that patient’s life signs ceased entirely for the few moments to minutes that they were unconscious.”  
  
“The same thing has been happening to Martha, we’re assuming it’s because her counterpart in your reality died a couple of years ago,” the Doctor explained.  
  
“Martha Jones, Tish’s sister,” John clarified.  
  
“But Ianto, you’re not having blackouts?” Jack asked.  
  
“No, just flashes of memory.”  
  
“But that doesn’t make any sense, you-”  
  
“Jack,” the Doctor interrupted quietly.  
  
“Right, sorry.”  
  
“We’ve got a plan, but we’re going to need your help.” The Doctor grinned at them. “You’re going to be the tether that holds the universes together.”  
  
“Or more specifically, keeps them from collapsing into each other,” the Master corrected with a roll of his eyes.  
  
John grinned. “Sounds like fun, right?”  
  
“Buckets of fun, sir,” Ianto replied.


	4. Chapter 4

***

PART 4

***

 

“So because this rift is on a planet, you need Torchwood Three to tether the Tardis’ down?” Suzie asked.  
  
“Exactly,” the Doctor grinned at her over the video feed.  
  
“And all the other rifts are in space?”  
  
“Yes, so if the Tardis causes any disturbances or gets jostled about a bit there won’t be any people in the vicinity to be say, accidentally blinked out of existence.”  
  
“And that’s a possibility is it? People being blinked out of existence?” Owen grumbled over the comm.  
  
“No, because you’ll be tethering us,” the Master said slowly with a tone which implied a silent ‘idiot’ tagged on at the end.  
  
“Behave,” John murmured from the Master’s side at the Tardis central console. They were back in the Master’s own universe, parked again on the Plass and above the hub. Jack had insisted on coming through with them much to the Doctor’s annoyance and was currently in the hub with Ianto.  
  
“How are they doing?” John asked.  
  
“Jack’s already on his way back up,” Rose replied.  
  
“That was quick,” the Master smirked. John trod on his foot as the Tardis door opened behind them. Jack smiled at John when he gave him a questioning look.  
  
“He’d already taken notes, hand written, typed and voice recorded of everything he’s dreamt or seen flashes of,” Jack said; he held up a notebook and a flash drive. “Thought it would be important for me to have.”  
  
“Your Ianto is alive then?” John asked.  
  
“I don’t know, maybe. If he is I just need to make sure he’s okay you know? Not being experimented on or something for having come back from the dead,” he said with a self deprecating smile.  
  
“I hope that helps,” John replied.  
  
“Come on then, let’s get on with this.” The Master clapped his hands together and started the Tardis engines.  
  
“Doctor, do you have your humans hidden away somewhere safe?” the Master asked through the comms.  
  
“Gwen has taken Martha to a local hospital to get checked over and the Ponds are still site seeing, how about yours?”  
  
The Master looked across expectantly at Jack and John.  
  
“There isn’t anyone quite human in this room,” Jack raised his eyebrows. “But we’ll temporarily abandon ship anyway,” he added.  
  
They sat on the Plass and watched the Tardis from a distance. The Torchwood team joined them a few minutes later, Suzie with a remote tablet for the hub in her hand and Owen with John Hart handcuffed to one of his.  
  
“All set?” Jack asked her.  
  
“Yes, the Master and the Doctor have provided a programme which will mostly automate the tether but I can monitor it from here to make sure nothing goes wrong.”  
  
Jack laughed. “When is anything ever straightforward for us?”  
  
John made a noise of agreement, but his eyes didn’t leave the Tardis. His whole body itched to run back to the Tardis and the Master. He had a bad feeling. Waiting and watching didn’t seem to be a forte of John Smith anymore than it had been of the Doctor.  
  
After a few more minutes of tense staring Jack nudged him with his elbow, “Am I going to have to tie you down? Because I can definitely do that if you need me to,” he winked.  
  
Staring contest with the Tardis broken, John turned to Jack just in time to see Ianto roll his eyes over Jack’s shoulder. John grinned. “Aren’t you too exhausted from your earlier exertions to be flirting with me?”  
  
“How do you- did he tell you about that?” Jack asked with a frown.  
  
“No, I er could sort of feel it? Sorry, I thought he’d explained,” John shifted uncomfortably. The Master had gently helped him strengthen his mind afterwards. If they were going to stay in the Doctor’s universe it wouldn’t do for the Doctor to hear John’s thoughts whenever his emotions were heightened.  
  
“That’s...interesting,” Jack said thoughtfully.  
  
“Oh shut up,” John said exasperated. “It won’t be-” he stopped mid sentence as the Tardis began to glow. The light started inside and glowed dully through the windows, but gradually became brighter and brighter. It looked much like the Doctor’s Tardis had when Rose had opened up the time vortex, light spilling out everywhere, bright and dangerous to look at.  
  
Soon the Tardis was completely engulfed. The Tardis engines roared to life, protested loudly at having to remain stationary whilst working at such a level.  
  
John almost didn’t notice the golden glow of the rift opening across the Plass from them and the Tardis, but the beam of light identical to that which was surrounding the Master’s Tardis which shot out from it drew his focus. When it reached the Tardis the red phone box shook as it was hit and began to glow even brighter.  
  
Jack gripped John’s arm tightly, it divided his attention for a moment long enough to realise he had stood and taken a few steps forward in the direction of the Tardis.  
  
“Wrong way!” Jack shouted over the noise. The ground began to shake beneath them.  
  
“We need to get out of here!” Rose shouted. The others began to back away from the Tardis, now too bright to look at for more than a few seconds. John resisted the pull of Jack’s hand.  
  
Jack looked for a moment like he was considering staying with John, but then the ground of the Plass began to crack beneath their feet. Ianto was at his other side in a flash and he and Jack both pulled John away to where Rose, Owen, Hart and Suzie had retreated to a safer distance.  
  
[](http://pics.livejournal.com/fathomlessspite/pic/0006h5zb/)  
  
Before John could turn back to look at the shining Tardis there was an ear-splitting noise and then everything stopped; the noise of the Tardis engines, the light that had been flooding the Plass. In the ensuing silence John felt almost blinded and deafened due to the sudden lack of sensory input. He managed to turn around to stare at the Plass.  
  
The empty Plass.  
  
John staggered forward, he easily moved out of Ianto and Jack’s slackened grip towards the space where the Tardis had been.  
  
He heard Jack bark orders at Suzie distantly, demanding to know what had happened, where the Tardis had gone.  
  
John walked across the Plass, over the stone which had seconds ago been full of gaping fissures but was now smooth. He stopped on the sport where the Master’s Tardis had stood and closed his eyes.  
  
He knelt down and put his palm to the concrete, it was warm to the touch.  
  
The sound of Jack’s footsteps as he approached didn’t stir John.  
  
“John,” Jack put a gentle hand on his shoulder. “I’m sorry; Suzie is trying to figure out what happened but the Hub’s sensors-”. He stopped mid sentence and knelt down opposite John. He spared a glance and a frown for the warm ground beneath him before he resettled his hand on John’s shoulder. “I’m sorry,” he repeated.  
  
John looked up and met his eyes; he managed to produce something which felt like a smile. “He’s not dead, Jack.”  
  
The sound of Tardis engines cut off any reply Jack was about to make. John didn’t even turn round, didn’t get his hopes up, knew the engines were those of the Doctor’s Tardis and not his and the Master’s own.  
  
To his credit Jack didn’t move, although he clearly wanted to. They waited where they were for the others to converge on them.  
  
“Did it work?” he heard Rose ask.  
  
“Yes, all fixed, well this rift at least. Hopefully the effect has rippled through, but I’ll do a quick fly round to see if it has stabilised the others as well. I should be able to fix them by myself if need be,” the Doctor responded. There was a pause where John was sure they were all uncomfortably not looking at him. Although he couldn’t be sure, as he was currently focused on his fingers as they flexed against the warm concrete.  
  
“So what happened to the other Tardis?” Owen asked.  
  
“Implode did it?” Hart added. Ianto trod on his foot which elicited a curse from Hart.  
  
“No he’s fine,” The Doctor replied uncomfortably. “John, he er, left a message if you want to-”  
  
“No,” he answered quietly and got to his feet to face them. Jack stood as well. “Thanks.”  
  
“I don’t understand,” Rose shook her head and frowned.  
  
“He did what we do best,” John answered.  
  
“He ran,” Jack said as understanding dawned for him before the others. John wasn’t surprised, he wasn’t sure exactly how old Jack was by now but he was old enough to have done plenty of running of his own.  
  
Rose looked at John sadly, with perhaps a little bit of hope hidden behind it. John almost seized upon it, it would be easy to come back here and stay with her. But it wouldn’t be fair to her. He wasn’t sure what the message the Master had apparently left for him said, but he knew he wouldn’t be able to leave John behind forever. He’d be back, and John would follow him if he asked. He couldn’t do that to Rose again.  
  
The others began to disperse, Owen, Hart and Suzie headed back down to the hub. Ianto stopped to speak to Jack for a moment, leaving him with a hand shake and a quiet “I hope you find him, sir,” before he followed them out of sight. Rose hovered uncertainly on the Plass by John’s side.  
  
“So, you’ll need some helping looking for your Ianto yeah?” John asked as nonchalantly as he could when Jack rejoined them. He pointedly did not look at Rose whilst he spoke, but he saw the Doctor who was facing her wince out of the corner of his eye.  
  
“You’re not going to stay?” Rose asked.  
  
“Rose I’m always going to run at some point, it wouldn’t be fair on you to stay,” he said quietly.  
  
She took a deep breath and closed her eyes. After a moment she opened them again, “Okay,” she nodded and stepped forward to pull him in to a hug. For a moment he let himself forget everything else and hold her close. But then she pulled back and said goodbye to Jack, she gave the Doctor an unsure smile and followed the same path the rest of the Torchwood team had back to the hub.  
  
“Time to go home then?” the Doctor asked. There was a pause where they all three exchanged glances, before Jack laughed and John snorted in amusement. “Well, back to the right universe at least,” the Doctor amended.  
  
“Lead the way,” Jack gestured with his hand. John trailed after him. All he could do for now was follow the wrong time lord in to the wrong Tardis and be whisked away to another universe.  
  
[](http://pics.livejournal.com/fathomlessspite/pic/0006g3xt/)


End file.
